Adoption Law - LAW 838

1-3 Hours

This course offers a survey of adoption law. Students will learn historical and contemporary perspectives of adoption law including the application, selection and approval processes. Facets of various types of adoption such as intercountry, transracial, transcultural, stepparent, second-parent, kinship and same-sex adoptions will be considered. Also, recent developments in adoption law such as post-adoption contact, amendments of confidentiality statutes and efforts to eliminate barriers to adoption will be discussed. In this interdisciplinary course, law students will discuss psychological and sociological consequences of adoption as well as statutes, cases and regulations that govern adoption and the lawyer's role throughout the adoption process.